Thousands of people rallied in Paris and across France on Saturday to protest a government bill that would extend marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. March organisers said marriage required "one dad and one mom for every child."

Opponents of a bill that would open up civil marriages and adoption to same-sex couples in France marched in the countryâs main cities on Saturday to protest what they call a âmajor and dangerous upheavalâ.Protesters took to the streets of Rennes, Nantes, Dijon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse to participate in the so-called âDemonstration for Allâ rally organized by conservative Catholic groups and which counted on the support of right-wing parties.

In Paris thousands of people gathered in the Denfert-Rochereau square, many brandishing signs that read âone mom and one dad for one childâ. The crowds largely respected requests by organisers to wear blue, white and pink clothes and abstain from brandishing the names or colours of their own organizations or political parties.

Organisers said there was between 30,000 and 40,000 people at the protest in the French capital.

Marc, a 60-year-old Parisian who said he was a fervent Catholic, called the government hypocritical. âThey all have wives and children. So they understand perfectly well what kind of deviations would result from the approval of gay marriages.â

He was holding a sign that read âNo to genitally modified marriageâ.